WEBSENSE NAMES JOHN MCCORMACK NEW COMPANY CEO

Promotion replaces retiring Hodges at Web security firm

San Diego web security firm Websense promoted President John McCormack as the company’s new chief executive officer, to replace the retiring Gene Hodges.

Meanwhile, Websense on Sunday released preliminary fourth-quarter financial results, with better-than-expected booking for the quarter but also higher expenses due to sales commissions.

McCormack, 52, joined Websense in 2006 as vice president of product development. He was promoted to president of the web security and filtering software company in 2009.

“As president, he has demonstrated his executive acumen while leading our worldwide sales and sales engineering teams; our marketing, product management, business development and technical support organizations; as well as the Websense Security Labs and research and development,” said John Harrington, chairman of Websense’s board of directors.

Promoting McCormack to replace Hodges, 60, will likely be seen as a good move by Websense shareholders, said FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives.

“In our opinion, the change at the top will be well received by investors given McCormack’s national transition from his role as president,” Ives said.

The promotion also could be the first step in a new strategic direction for the company, including the eventual sale, Ives said.

Before joining Websense, McCormack was an executive with Symantec, a web anti-virus software firm. He also held various posts at Sygate Technologies and Cisco Systems. He has a master’s degree in engineering management from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of New Hampshire.

Hodges, the retiring CEO, headed Websense since 2006, when he joined the company from anti-virus software firm McAfee. He helped expand Websense’s product lines beyond web filtering and toward more robust security technology. Websense sells its software primarily to businesses.

The company also named Charles Boesenberg to its board of directors and Russ Dietz as the company’s new chief technology officer.

For its fourth quarter, Websense said it expects billings to be $122 million, up 5 percent year-over-year and exceeding its previous guidance of $112 million to $117 million for the quarter. Billings are a key gauge of future business for Websense, which sells its software on a subscription basis.

The company also forecasts revenue of $91.5 million to $92 million for the quarter, which is at the high end of its previous guidance of $90 million to $92 million.

Earnings per share are expected in the range of 27 cents to 28 cents — lower than previous predictions of 32 cents to 35 cents a share.

The company said the lower earnings stemmed from increased sales commissions from the higher-than-expected billings during the quarter.

Ives, the FBR Capital Markets analyst, called the preliminary results “positive after a year of struggles and should give investors some optimism heading into 2013.”

Websense plans to release official fourth-quarter financial results on Jan. 29. Its shares ended Monday up 38 cents at $15.36 on the Nasdaq exchange.